This is a question from my friend who is a serious meditator (practising for not so long) in U Ba Khin tradition. He experiences sensations all over his body, and so cannot distinguish which sensations are normal and which are related to disease. He fears that if he gets any disease, then he will not be able to know that he has that disease because he is used to observe all sensations (how painful they are), and that will cause delay in seeking medical care. How to deal with this? I hope Ben and other meditators can share their ideas.Thanks.

There is sometimes a point in practice where this can be confusing. As we become more aware of sensations we tune into the flow of energy within our body. Sometimes this energy gets jammed up at certain places in the flow and can cause discomfort. Usually the jam eventually moves on it's own so noting it and doing nothing about it is fine. Sometimes the jam stays and increases and can become a symptom of something that needs more attention. Over time we become more skilled at telling the difference. Not everyone feels these jams so they are often dismissed by those who don't have this particular sensitivity...just ignore these folks. It is useful to become aware of these energy channels. Here is an example of a couple of meridians that are giving some people some trouble at this particular time of the year:

Each set are particularly active during the associated season. Knowing this we can sometimes observe/understand odd sensations/pains as just being the meridians clanging a bit at the transition period between seasons and at the peak of seasons.

Last edited by pink_trike on Thu Oct 29, 2009 5:37 am, edited 4 times in total.

Vision is MindMind is EmptyEmptiness is Clear LightClear Light is UnionUnion is Great Bliss

Those jams are part of the reason I no longer practice with that particular method. Mine is/was in the so called "3rd eye" region... it sometimes feels like someone's shoved jumping jacks under the skin! I've had scans, but they showed nothing.

Hi Sam Thanks for the opportunity to respond to the issue your friend is facing.Its somewhat similar to what a co-practitioner was going through some years ago. I heard about on the grapevine that he felt that he should 'just observe' the sensations that were manifesting due to a chronic ailment. And it was getting to the point where it was debilitating. When the area teacher found out, he was instructed to seek medical treatment.The particular practice that we are mainly involved in, vedananupassana: (observation of sensation) is to develop moment-to-moment awareness of the anicca characteristic of sensation while remaining equanimous to sensation. i contend that one cannot have sati if one is not equanimous - but that's another subject for another day. The sort of thing that my co-practitioner was gettng involved in was a subtle aversion towards his body which was manifesting as a desire to just observe the disease state no matter what it cost him physically or mentally.U Ba Khin had a great saying in the discourse he gave in 1968 called the Essentials of Buddhadhamma where he was talking about how one should practice in daily life. He said that it wasn't necessary for one to maintain awareness of anicca all the time. He said 'one should work when you work and play while you play', meaning - reserve times of observing anicca to the set periods of meditation and the rest of one's time one should just get on and do all the things one needs to do in day-to-day life.My personal opinion is that one should never ignore possible symptoms of illness or disease. Certainly, there maybe ample time to observe their anicca characteristic, but one should also ensure that one listens to one's body and acts accordingly - ensuring our health and longevity - which in turn ensures an ongoing opportunity to practice Dhamma.Also remember,only some vedana are produced by sankhara.metta

Ben

“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.” - Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:in mountain clefts and chasms,loud gush the streamlets,but great rivers flow silently.- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Meaning that when ngondro is clearly understood all meta functional aspects of the Vajrayana path are present and accounted for. Ngondro isn't only an introductory practice, it also contains the whole path.

Vision is MindMind is EmptyEmptiness is Clear LightClear Light is UnionUnion is Great Bliss

retrofuturist wrote:Just because he observes various physical sensations and remains mentally equanimous about them, doesn't mean that he ought to ignore them if they point towards some kind of physical illness.Retro.

Ben wrote:Hi Sam My personal opinion is that one should never ignore possible symptoms of illness or disease. Certainly, there maybe ample time to observe their anicca characteristic, but one should also ensure that one listens to one's body and acts accordingly - ensuring our health and longevity - which in turn ensures an ongoing opportunity to practice Dhamma.Ben

But he never ignores possible symptoms. He fears that he may not be able to know which sensations are normal and which are related to diseases, possibly causing delay in seeking medical care.

There's a great saying that was imortalised by a television advertisement for a pain killer:If pain persists, see a doctor!kind regards

Ben

“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.” - Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:in mountain clefts and chasms,loud gush the streamlets,but great rivers flow silently.- Sutta Nipata 3.725